HDF files within the PyCBC workflow

Note

Format specifications are provided here to aid in development. The canonical definition, as always, lives within the code itself.

single inspiral triggers

Executables

  • pycbc_inspiral

Specification

All keys in the inspiral output are prefixed with the IFO name, e.g. H1, L1. Currently, only a single ifo is present in each file, but at a future date, multiple may be allowed.

The following table consists of columns of trigger data. Each column is of the same length and an index into one column corresponds to the same trigger in each of the other columns.

Column vectors of trigger data
path description
IFO/snr The mangitude of the complex SNR
IFO/coa_phase The phase of the complex SNR
IFO/end_time The gps time of the trigger
IFO/chisq Value of the bruce power chisq
IFO/chisq_dof Not DOF. The number of bins in the chisq. DOF = 2 * (num_bins -1)
IFO/bank_chisq Value of the bank chisq
IFO/bank_chisq_dof Number of templates used to construct the bank chisq
IFO/cont_chisq Value of the autochisq
IFO/cont_chisq_dof Number of dof for the auto chisq
IFO/template_duration Duration of the template approximant used for this trigger
IFO/sigmasq The weighted power of the template, placed at 1Mpc, used for this trigger
Additional Data
path description
IFO/search/start_time Array of gps times which denote the start of a valid period of triggers
IFO/search/end_time Array of gps times which denote the corresponding end of a vlid period of triggers

The following are columns that exists in the file, but should not be used by any user. Its definition or existence is subject to change without notice.

reserved columns
path
IFO/template_hash

combined single inspiral triggers

Executables

  • pycbc_coinc_mergetrigs

Specification

All keys in the inspiral output are prefixed with the IFO name, e.g. H1, L1. Currently, only a single ifo is present in each file, but at a future date, multiple may be allowed.

The following table consists of columns of trigger data. Each column is of the same length and an index into one column corresponds to the same trigger in each of the other columns.

Column vectors of trigger data
path description
IFO/snr The mangitude of the complex SNR
IFO/coa_phase The phase of the complex SNR
IFO/end_time The gps time of the trigger
IFO/chisq Value of the bruce power chisq
IFO/chisq_dof Not DOF. The number of bins in the chisq. DOF = 2 * (num_bins -1)
IFO/bank_chisq Value of the bank chisq
IFO/bank_chisq_dof Number of templates used to construct the bank chisq
IFO/cont_chisq Value of the autochisq
IFO/cont_chisq_dof Number of dof for the auto chisq
IFO/template_duration Duration of the template approximant used for this trigger
IFO/sigmasq The weighted power of the template, placed at 1Mpc, used for this trigger
IFO/template_id The unique template id value. This is the index into the hdf template file format

The key feature that the combined trigger format adds is the convenience of precalculated region references to access only the data produced by a given template. These values are stored in region reference arrays. The length of each array is the same as the number of templates, and an index into the array matches the template_id number. Each array directly maps to a single column.

region reference arrays
path
IFO/bank_chisq_dof_template
IFO/bank_chisq_template
IFO/chisq_dof_template
IFO/chisq_template
IFO/coa_phase_template
IFO/cont_chisq_dof_template
IFO/cont_chisq_template
IFO/end_time_template
IFO/sigmasq_template
IFO/snr_template
IFO/template_boundaries
IFO/template_duration_template
Additional Data
path description
IFO/search/start_time Array of gps times which denote the start of a valid period of triggers
IFO/search/end_time Array of gps times which denote the corresponding end of a vlid period of triggers

Example uses

Accessing triggers by template

import h5py
f = h5py.File('H1-testdata.hdf')
snr_regs = f['H1/snr_template']
snr_template_0 = f['H1/snr'][snr_regs[0]]